Partly sunny today and northwest winds 15-25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Winds decrease in the afternoon and become light overnight. Frost may be possible in some locations with lows in the mid 30s mainly in northern KS. Rain chances will increase through the week beginning on Tuesday. The better chances for showers on Tuesday into Wednesday will be south of interstate 70.

Today: Sunny. Highs around 60. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows around 37. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 68. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s. North winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northeast after midnight.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 60. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows around 40.

Thursday: Partly sunny with slight chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 40s.

Friday: Thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 60s. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Friday Night: Showers likely and isolated thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 40s. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Saturday: Partly sunny with slight chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers. Lows in the lower 40s.

Sunday: Partly sunny with chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Veterinary students at Kansas State University are going on the road to care for shelter animals.

A new mobile unit will start heading out to shelters next month. The university says students are projected to perform 2,800 to 3,500 spay/neuter procedures in the first year.

Agreements have already been established to provide services for nonprofit and municipal animal shelters in Manhattan, Junction City, Ottawa, Emporia, Topeka, Lawrence, Salina and Clay Center.

The university says most shelter organizations in Kansas don’t have a veterinarian on staff or on-site surgical facilities.

Assistant clinical professor Brad Crauer says students will develop a strong appreciation for the magnitude of the homeless pet population. He says working in the mobile unit will prepare them to volunteer and advocate for shelters in their communities after graduation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The president of Kansas State University is speaking out against a proposal to freeze college tuition in the state.

K-State President Kirk Schultz said in a statement Friday that a proposal inserted into a budget being considered by the Legislature would hurt the university’s ability to provide quality academic programs. Schultz said that forcing state universities to maintain fixed tuition rates while holding state funding to flat levels for the next two years would remove flexibility from their budgets.

Schultz said in the Kansas State’s annual enrollment has grown by more than 2,300 students since 2001 and adopting a freeze at this time would have devastating effects.

Due to the growth in funding demands, Schultz said the proposal would effectively result in the biggest budget cut in the university’s history.

The Junction City police report for the period Saturday morning to early Sunday morning included arrests in multiple cases.

–Amber Colon, 31, Junction City and Lasheen Eola Washington, 34, Manhattan on suspicion of Felony Theft. They were arrested at the Dollar General at 211 South Franklin.

–Stile Epp, 28, homeless, on suspicion of Felony Possession of Marijuana, Damage to Property, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and four counts of Trespassing. The arrest occurred at 1001 East 6th Street at the USA Inn.

–Jasmyn Camp, 21, Junction City, on suspicion of Domestic Battery, arrested at 1631 Patriot Drive.

–A juvenile was arrested at 820 North Monroe on suspicion of Criminal Threat.

–Leroy Madison III, 43, Junction City, on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, arrested at 713 South Washington.

–Joseph A. Coughlin, 32, Chicago, Illinois, on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Driving Without Headlights, arrested at 100 South Franklin.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported the arrest of Dean H. Henry, Junction City, at 202 East 1st Street, Apartment 1, on a Clay County District Court warrant charging him with Burglary.

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The Sheriff’s Department reported the arrest of William R. Lemieux Jr., Junction City, at Club Rose, 851 Grant Avenue, on suspicion of Aggravated Escape from Custody.

MANHATTAN – Some school districts around the state continue to consider plans to end the school year early to save money. The Concordia district and the Twin Valley district, which includes Bennington and Tescott, announced last week they would release students in early May.

The USD-383 Board of Education in Manhattan met last Thursday night and discussed the possibility of reducing school days to save money.

Michele Jones, USD-383 Director of Communications and School Safety, said the board discussed how many minutes would have to be added each day to reduce the school year by 5 or 10 days.

The school district would save approximately $10,000 each day they shave off the calendar.

The talks were in response to the school district having to do budget reductions. There isn’t another BOE meeting until May 6th, and it’s up to the district’s Budget Advisory Steering Committee to determine if the possibility of a shortened school will take place.

MAPLE HILL -A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 10 p.m. on Saturday in Wabaunsee County

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1991 Honda passenger car driven by Dylan T. Shafer, 17, Baldwin City

was eastbound on Interstate 70 in the left lane two miles west of the Maple Hill exit.

The driver’s side rear tire suffered a malfunction. The driver lost control and cut in front of a 2014 Hyundai driven by Lori L. Flippin, 51, Topeka, in the right lane. The Hyundai swerved to avoid the Honda and overturned. The Honda struck the guardrail.

Flippin was transported to St. Francis Hospital
Shafer was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

The April 20 Board of Education celebrations meeting has been moved to the Junction City Middle School Auditorium. It will be held there instead of at Fort Riley Middle School Auditorium.

The celebrations meeting will begin at 5 p.m.

Numerous district personnel will be honored during the meeting ranging from Shining Star award recipients to the Kansas Confidence in Public Education Task Force Friends of Education Award winners.

Others to be recognized include the JCHS wrestling team and coach Bob Laster, the 6A State Champion Men’s Blue Jay Bowling Team and coaches, Kansas State Science & Engineering Fair students at both Fort Riley and Junction City Middle Schools, Kansas Boys & Girls Club of America Military Youth, and the KDEC Distinguished Service Provider of the Year.

The 11th annual Friends of Animals Pet Fair and Walk for Life event drew a big turnout to the 4-H / Senior Center Saturday in Junction City.

Friends of Animals president Linnae Alt said it was a really good crowd. “We were told by the crowd inside that it was probably more than last year.”

Rain did force some adjustment to the outdoor activities on the Fairgrounds, but one new event indoors, the Pooch Pie Eating Contest,  proved popular. “We had a lot of little bitty dogs. We had two heats of medium sized dogs, and then we had a very large heat of the large dogs, and everybody really liked that new event.”

In the contest dogs ate Shepard’s Pie with hamburger, peas, mashed potatoes, and bacon bits.

The Pet Fair and Walk for Life raises funds to support the Friends’ group’s lifesaving  efforts in support of dogs and cats.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– This week, Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (KS-02) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) called on the VA Heartland Network Director raising serious concerns about the support the Network is receiving from the VA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., to resolve the ongoing issues with the operation of the emergency room at the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in Topeka, Kan.

Congresswoman Jenkins and Sen. Moran first raised these concerns with then-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki in August 2013. Now – in April 2015 – the situation remains unclear due to a lack of transparency from the VA Headquarters regarding the status of the emergency room.

“We can all agree that our veterans deserve the highest quality of care possible, yet more than a year has passed and veterans are still not able to receive emergency care from Colmery-O’Neil,” Congresswoman Jenkins. “This situation is unacceptable and must be resolved immediately. Rather than more excuses and inaction from leaders at the VA in Washington, our veterans deserve results and care that is worthy of their service to our nation.”

“Veterans who have served our nation with duty and honor deserve access to quality health care when they need it,” Sen. Moran said. “Because Kansas is a rural state, many of our veterans are already forced to travel long distances to visit a VA hospital. For more than a year, Topeka veterans have been without the emergency care services they could need at any moment. We will continue to press VA leadership in Washington for answers to make certain veterans in Kansas and across the country get the care they earned.”